# What could you teach the people of 200 years ago? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 7, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674 "2009-03-07T20:53:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/21 "2009-03-08T08:01:23Z")
Trade my jeans, tennis shoes and pocket knife to a Creek Indian for a change of clothes and some barter goods (should get a good many) then to the trading post in what’s now downtown and book passage to D.C. to meet Jefferson. This was back in the days when you could just show up at the White House and have a reasonable chance of seeing the president. From there, discuss science and modern architecture (I’m far from an expert but I know what the layperson knows, and just the itty bitty abstract stuff about quantum physics would probably blow his mind). I’d tell him to invest in cotton land and cotton gins, and about the Great Salt Lake/Rockies/Grand Canyon/etc., and try to get funding to go there. Which of course I’d spend on lots in Manhattan instead of course and bequeath to myself in the event that I make it back one day. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/22 "2009-03-08T08:17:08Z")
The first European-American settlers didn’t get to my area until 1854. I don’t speak Lummi. I suspect I’d be the one doing all of the learning. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/23 "2009-03-08T12:53:18Z")
> [@Telcontar](#): > > Atomic structure/nature of light. Only if you have some experiments lined up. I suggest the double-slit experiment, to begin with. > [@](#): > > Various developments related to warfare (more tactical and strategic than technological - the weapons are about where you’d want them to be). Really? I thought muzzle-loading flintlocks would still have been standard issue. > [@](#): > > Basic cryptography. Modern crypto is effectively impossible without computers to do the arithmetic for you. You’d do a lot better to create some purely mechanical [rotor machine.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotor_machine) (Note that recreating the Enigma is out: It was electromechanical and reliable electricity is just under a century in the future.) > [@](#): > > Assembly line production I think long guns were being made on assembly lines in the late 1700s, but I could be wrong. As for me: Lewis and Clark had left my region years ago by 1809, so I can’t link up with them. Most of the people around here would be Native Americans who are only in the region seasonally, and March can be an iffy time: If I land in the middle of a wintry period, I die quickly from freezing to death. If I land in a more temperate season, I likely die slowly from starvation or being killed by a wild animal: Coyotes still exist here and wolves were endemic as well prior to widespread ranching. For reference, tomorrow’s high is 25° F and the low is 0° F. Monday will go from 7° F to -10° F. It was in the high 40s yesterday. Assuming I survive the environment, I’d be doing unskilled manual labor for whoever deigns to give me food and board. I think that, in addition to the Indians, trappers were in this region in 1809 and there’s probably a higher likelihood of one of them speaking English. As for what I could teach people: The Heimlich maneuver, basic CPR, and a healthy respect for handwashing. Those are likely my best, most practical bits of knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/24 "2009-03-08T14:04:50Z")
Wow. I’d be in western China, with minimal speaking skills. My city has been pretty well established for the last 3,000 years or so. But I can’t imagine they’d have had much experience with westerners, especially western women. I’d try to find some missionaries who could get me to a larger city. There I would hope to marry a diplomat or something. God knows what they’d think about my strange accent and terrible manners. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/25 "2009-03-08T18:24:31Z")
Hmm. 200 years ago in the mountains in Idaho. Head south, and hope and pray I run into some friendly natives who know how to live off the land and not freeze to death, before I starve and freeze. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/26 "2009-03-08T18:26:46Z")
I’d be screwed, mostly. I’m in my sweatpants, but I do have my shoes on. I’d be in the Sonoran desert. Fortunately, there’s an archeological site that shows this was a popular area for the Hohokam. Near a creek, hilly areas good for hunting. I’d have to hook up with them, Flagstaff is 60 miles north, Tucson 180 mi south. But Flagstaff isn’t even a military bivuac until 1855. I might meet someone on the way to Tucson, If I pick up enough survival skills from the Indians to feel comfortable walking that far. For a long term plan, I’d fall back on what I did in a time travelling D&D game once. Introduce pizza to the populace. Everyone loves pizza, I’d get rich!!! ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/27 "2009-03-08T18:29:56Z")
Slavery wasn’t abolished in NY until the 1820s, so the first thing I’m doing is going to Canada. Better safe than sorry. I might try to educate people about the importance of cleanliness in health care, but I’d probably just lay low and try to blend in. Maybe write down as much as I could remember from that period of history and become a modern (accurate) Nostradamus. I wouldn’t live to see it, but it could be kind of cool to have a little religion spring up from my ability to tell the future. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/28 "2009-03-08T18:31:46Z")
I would teach them the Electric Slide, the Macarena and the Chicken Dance. Also some simple break dance techniques and maybe the Moonwalk. I hope this would have hilarious and catastrophic results on future generations, but it would probably get me burned at the stake - even if they had to specifically re-institute that punishment just for me. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/29 "2009-03-08T21:10:11Z")
> [@](#): > > You are randomly transported with no forewarning, with nothing but what you have about your person, to March 7th, 1809, to the same geographic locality. Hmmm…underwear and a bathrobe, in the middle of the desert, with only rudimentary Spanish skills, in the heart of Apache country. I think I would be screwed. Assuming I survived, I would try to get menial jobs and work my way eastward. Once I got to the U.S., I would try to find some college science professors, and try to point them in the right direction. I lack the mathematics to make any grand breakthroughs, but I think I could probably fill in a few of the gaps in their knowledge. And I could make a fortune betting on presidential elections. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/30 "2009-03-08T21:25:16Z")
City of Brooklyn, 1809? Guess I’d be a farmer. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/31 "2009-03-09T14:37:07Z")
I’d lie low until the British took over, then I’d convince them of the existence of the Kimberly diamond pipe and Witwatersrand gold reefs before the area gets settled by Afrikaners. Then I’d stake out the Namib diamond fields, Tsumeb and Okiep copper mines, that sort of thing. Although, I might have to do it through a proxy, or I’d just have to end up saying “Baas” again. ---
**Author:** ![Telcontar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Telcontar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telcontar)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/32 "2009-03-09T15:12:17Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Really? I thought muzzle-loading flintlocks would still have been standard issue. They are, but rifles had been around in various forms for at least 30 years. You could 1.) make a better rifle and 2.) mass produce it, but that’s really about it. The Gatling gun is a bit beyond me and I don’t know enough metallurgy to really kick artillery in the ass (well, interlocking screws are great…okay, that’s important). Having said that, I know American Civil War era military science decently well and that would be useful. Related to assembly line production: The Russian approach of building one gun, building it well, and selling it to everyone really had something going for it. The history of western firearms is very…haphazard (many different models in circulation, some quite bad). A formal R&D process might have worked wonders, though you’d need a fair bit of popular renown to convince people to go for it. > [@Derleth](#): > > Modern crypto is effectively impossible without computers to do the arithmetic for you. You’d do a lot better to create some purely mechanical [rotor machine.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotor_machine) (Note that recreating the Enigma is out: It was electromechanical and reliable electricity is just under a century in the future.) I think you’re setting a high standard for basic :). Though I could shave a little time off the advent of electricity, I was shooting for something more like the rotor machine as you mention (or even the card cipher from cryptonomicon). Any rotating cipher would be almost unbreakable for a century. > [@Derleth](#): > > I think long guns were being made on assembly lines in the late 1700s, but I could be wrong. Not sure about that actually. It was certainly underused for quite awhile, though the idea may have existed. ---
**Author:** ![Ro\_Carter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@Ro\_Carter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ro_Carter)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/33 "2009-03-09T15:29:47Z")
Unfortunately, my state wasn’t admitted to the union for almost another thirty years, and my city wasn’t even founded at the time (about fifteen years away). Also, given that I am a woman and would be wearing pants, I’m pretty sure I’d end up in jail on charges of either prostitution or insanity before I could do anything useful. To add to all that, the people round these parts then tended to be either Native Americans or non-English Europeans. I would be royally screwed. My skill set wouldn’t help me out much either (I’m a technology person. Not much call for computer and systems troubleshooting at that time). Unless they wanted to keep me around as an extremely unreliable oracle that might be able to tell them things like the next President, or as a reader/writer for the area, I’d be out of luck. ---
**Author:** ![RoniaBorkason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RoniaBorkason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoniaBorkason)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/34 "2009-03-09T15:56:18Z")
Woohoo! I’d be ok! Set myself up as a bookkeeper, build up my fortune over 38 years or so, buy out Sutter’s mill in Coloma, retire filthy rich. I just went to that museum - I know how to find gold. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/35 "2009-03-09T16:44:27Z")
> [@Telcontar](#): > > Not sure about that actually. It was certainly underused for quite awhile, though the idea may have existed. I was thinking of [Honoré Blanc](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor%C3%A9_Blanc), who pioneered the concept of interchangeable parts that all fall within allowable tolerances and did, in fact, apply this notion to gunsmithing. He was indeed active and making muskets by this method in the late 1700s. I can’t tell if it was an assembly line in the modern sense, though, but it seems damn close even if it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/36 "2009-03-09T18:44:41Z")
I could invent postage stamps. ---
**Author:** ![schnuckiputzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@schnuckiputzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schnuckiputzi)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/37 "2009-03-09T18:59:45Z")
I would start teaching (again!) and midwifing, probably turning into the local herb woman who’s birthed all the babies and makes all the potions. Or I’ll be burned at the stake. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/38 "2009-03-10T00:36:42Z")
Shoot. Here in Walla Walla, I’d have just missed Lewis and Clark, so I suppose I’d have to beat my way south to San Francisco. If the weather’s nice, shouldn’t be too bad; follow the Columbia to the sea, then the beach southwards. Keeps you out of the nastier mountain ranges, too. I do know enough Spanish to get by, then I suppose I’d have to beat my way East. If I’m lucky, I’ll track down someone at a university who wants to quickly become very well-known in chemistry and physics; even the two years of college-level chemistry gives me a big leg up. Sir Isaac Newton still knows more math than me, so I’m way behind in that. My career as a theatrical technician would probably go down the tubes; I don’t know the first thing about candleabra lighting and I’m a little frightened to try, given the rate at which theatres burn down in that era. Maybe a smidge of military science? Probably better to plan on predicting presidential elections, wars, and other things that I can bet on. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/39 "2009-03-10T01:00:40Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > But I should be able to shoehorn the idea of penicillin (not ‘discovered’ properly until 1928) and the notion of disease causing bacteria (bacteria being coined in 1838) Yes, that worked out very well for [Dr. Semmelweis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis), who tried to convince physicians to wash their hands after autopsies and before examining patients, was mocked and ignored during his lifetime, and died in a mental institution. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674/40 "2009-03-10T01:04:35Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > I’d be one of the most prolific mathematicians of all time. Hell, what am I saying? 200 years ago? I’d be _the_ most productive mathematician ever known. Even just a cursory understanding of the myriad major works, innovations, and revolutions of mathematics of the last 200 years would put me, well, centuries ahead of my time. Of course, I’d probably die mocked and ignored in a mental institution, muttering feebly about digital computers and futilely trying to dredge up non-existent memories of how to design a transistor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-could-you-teach-the-people-of-200-years-ago/488674.md?page=3)